Device differentiation for electronic workspaces

ABSTRACT

An electronic workspace may be created from multiple viewer devices. The viewer devices are coordinated so that each exhibits a different visual identification characteristic such as a distinct or unique color. Content can be assigned by way of a user interface in which individual viewer devices are represented by visual icons that exhibit the same visual identification characteristics as the respective viewer devices, so that a user may easily distinguish between the available viewer devices.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority under 35U.S.C. 120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/605,746, filed on Jan.26, 2015, entitled “Device Differentiation for Electronic Workspaces,”which is a continuation of and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 120 toU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/052,467, filed on Mar. 21, 2011,entitled “Device Differentiation for Electronic Workspaces” the entiretyof each of which is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

It has been forecast for many years that computers will eventuallyeliminate the need for paper in office and business environments.Although this has yet to take place, the increasing availability ofinexpensive reader devices may help to fulfill this forecast.

The availability and use of such reader devices has increased in partdue to advances in display technologies, and in particular due toadvances in so-called “electronic paper” or “e-paper” technologies.These technologies have been increasingly successful in producingdisplays that emulate the appearance of printed paper. In addition, suchdisplays are thin, inexpensive, lightweight, and consume negligiblepower. In the future, content readers will become even lighter andthinner, and may eventually resemble sheets of paper.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanyingfigures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference numberidentifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Theuse of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates similaror identical items.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an environment and components inwhich an electronic workspace may be implemented.

FIGS. 2-5 are front views of example electronic viewer devices that canbe coordinated to exhibit different identification designs such ascolors.

FIG. 6 is a representation of a user interface in which viewer devicesare represented graphically by icons of the same colors as the colors ofthe respectively corresponding viewer devices.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of differentiatingbetween multiple available viewers in an electronic workspace.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing relevant components of a viewer devicethat can be used in conjunction with the workspace management techniquesdescribed herein.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing relevant components of a workspacecontroller that can be used in conjunction with the workspace managementtechniques described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This disclosure describes systems, devices, and techniques for creatingelectronic workspaces using multiple viewer devices, where differentcontent items or other data are assigned to and displayed by differentviewer devices. In an environment such as this it can be challenging todistinguish between the multiple viewer devices and to intuitively andunobtrusively manage the assignment and transfer of individual contentitems to desired viewer devices.

In the described embodiments, an electronic workspace comprises multiplecontent viewers, to which a user may assign respective content items forviewing. The assignment of content items to individual viewers may beperformed through a graphical user interface, in which individualviewers are represented graphically. In some implementations, the userinterface may allow a user to simply “drag and drop” content items tothe graphical representations of the viewers.

The viewers themselves are dynamically configurable to visually exhibitdifferent identification designs. For example, the case or bezel of eachviewer may be controllable to change its color. Alternatively, eachviewer device may have an indicator whose color can be controlled, orthe display surfaces of the devices may have regions whose color can becontrolled for purposes of device identification.

Note that the term “design” is used herein to indicate a visualcharacteristic such as a color, shade, or pattern. Furthermore, althoughvarious examples are described herein as utilizing colors todifferentiate between respective devices, it should be understood thatother designs, including shades and patterns, may be used in theseembodiments rather than color.

In use, the devices are coordinated to select and display deviceidentification designs that are respectively unique. In manyembodiments, the designs are characterized by color. Thus, a firstdevice may exhibit a blue identification design, a second device mayexhibit a red identification design, and a third device may exhibit agreen identification design.

The user interface is then configured to represent each viewer device interms of its unique device identification design. When a user wishes toperform an operation with respect to a particular device, the usersimply notes the visual design exhibited by the device and selects theuser interface representation having the same visual design. Forexample, if a user wishes to assign a document to a device that isexhibiting a blue design (the blue device), the user may simply drag thedocument icon to a blue device icon. In response, the system providesthe document to the blue device, and the blue device displays thedocument.

FIG. 1 shows an environment 100 in which these techniques may beimplemented and practiced. The environment 100 comprises a plurality ofelectronic reader devices 102, which are also referred to herein aselectronic viewers, content viewers, content viewer devices, viewers, ordevices. The content viewers 102 may comprise a number of identicaldevices, or may comprise a variety of different devices.

Content viewers 102 may comprise handheld devices or other small,light-weight, portable devices upon which electronic content can berendered and conveniently viewed in a manner similar to viewing a sheetof paper, a notepad, a book, or a file. Examples of handheld viewersinclude flat form-factor devices such as tablets, slates, smartphones,personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc. In addition, dedicated-purposeviewer devices may be used, comprising primarily a display surface andin some embodiments a surrounding case or bezel. Dedicated-purposeviewer devices such as this may have high-contrast, flat-panel displaysthat appear similar to a printed page and that persist without frequentrefreshing. Such displays may consume very negligible amounts of power,so that they may be used for long periods without recharging orreplacing batteries. Some embodiments may use flexible display surfaces.Some embodiments may utilize touch-sensitive display surfaces for userinteraction. Other embodiments may incorporate buttons or other userinterface elements, apart from their display surfaces.

The content viewers 102 are capable of displaying various types ofcontent items, which may include documents such as books, notes,magazines, email, communications, notices, forms, letters, memos, andother matter, which in turn may include text, graphics, pictures,drawings, and so forth. Content may be displayed in black-and-white orwith various degrees of shades and colors. Content items may alsoinclude various different types of media such as audio, video, andvarious other types of data objects.

Furthermore, although various techniques are described below in thecontext of media consumption devices such as content viewers, it is tobe understood that the same techniques can be applied in conjunctionwith various different types of devices, including printers, storagedevices, and other peripherals and equipment to which data operationsmight be directed. The viewers 102 have communication capabilities thatallow them to communicate content and other control information. Forexample, the viewers 102 may have wireless communication interfaces thatallow communication though a communications network 104. The wirelesscommunications interfaces may utilize WiFi, cellular, Bluetooth, orother wireless data and networking technologies.

The environment 100 may include a workspace controller 106, which in thedescribed embodiment may comprise a general-purpose computer or othertype of computer or computer-like device. A graphical user interface 108may be implemented by the workspace controller 106, allowing a user 110to assign or transfer content to different ones of the viewers 102. Oneor more of the viewers 102 may alternatively function as the workspacecontroller, and the user interface may be implemented by one of theviewers or by multiple viewers in cooperation. Thus, it may be possiblein some embodiments to move and assign content from any one of theviewers to any of the other viewers, using the device differentiationtechniques described below.

Each of the viewers 102 has one or more device identification regions112 that can be dynamically configured to exhibit various differentdevice identification designs such as colors. In FIG. 1, the deviceidentification regions 112 are shown as discrete indicators, such asmulti-color LEDs, that can be selectively controlled to exhibitdifferent colors.

In operation, the devices 102 are coordinated so that they each adopt adifferent device identification color: the device identification colorof each device 102 is unique with respect to the other devices 102. Eachdevice 102 then configures its device identification region 112 todisplay the adopted color of the device 102. This allows a user todifferentiate the various devices, which may otherwise appear identical,by their exhibited colors.

The graphical user interface 108 depicts the individual devices 102 interms of their colors. For example, the device 102 that has adopted thecolor blue may be represented by the graphical user interface 108 as ablue icon or other graphical representation. Similarly, the device 102that has adopted the color green may be represented by the graphicaluser interface 108 as a green icon. Content operations, such asassigning a content item to a particular device 102, may be accomplishedby interacting with the displayed device icon having the color of thedevice 102 that is intended as the object of the operation. For example,an icon representing a content item may be dragged to the iconrepresenting the desired device 102, which may cause that content itemto be transferred to and displayed on the device 102. Other types ofoperations may also be performed with respect to the viewers 102 usingthis type of dynamically-configured differentiation. Generally, aparticular device 102 may be distinguished and selected in this mannerwhenever it is desired to select one of the plurality of devices 102.

FIGS. 2-5 show examples of how different embodiments of devices mayimplement device identification regions. In FIG. 2, a device 200 has acase or bezel 202 that surrounds and supports a display surface 204. Inthis example, the case or bezel 202 may be fabricated from, covered by,or wrapped in material whose color can be dynamically changed. As anexample, Kent Displays, Inc, of Kent, Ohio, United States of America,has developed single-pixel plastic skins that can be cut to customshapes and conformed to various devices, allowing the devices todynamically and electronically change their colors between eightavailable reflective colors. Skins can potentially be combined to createmulti-pixel patterns, so that other types of designs might be producedon cases or bezels of electronic devices.

In FIG. 3, a device 300 has a case or bezel 302 whose color is notdynamically configurable. Instead, the device 300 has a display panel304 having a peripheral region 306 that is dynamically controlled toexhibit the device identification color of the device 300. In someembodiments, the peripheral region 306 may be used for this purposeprimarily at times when a user is preparing to transfer content to thedevice 300 or has some other need to distinguish between availableviewer devices. In other embodiments, the peripheral region 306 may beconfigured to exhibit the device identification color continuously.Still other embodiments may utilize the peripheral region 306 to displaythe device identification color, while also overlaying portions ofcontent in this region. In these embodiments, the displayed deviceidentification color may be relatively transparent, so that it does notinterfere significantly with the presentation of displayed content.

In the example of FIG. 4, a device 400 has a case or bezel 402surrounding a display panel 404. An indicator 406 is positioned withinthe bezel 402. The indicator 406 may be an illuminated or reflectiveelement whose color can be electronically controlled and changed by thedevice 400. For example, the indicator 406 may be a multi-color LED.

In the example of FIG. 5, a device 500 has a case or bezel 502surrounding a display panel 504. In this embodiment, the display panel504 displays the device identification color over its entire surface (asindicated by a dot pattern). The device identification color may bedisplayed in a relatively transparent manner so that content can beviewed in conjunction with the device identification color, and so thatthe device identification design does not interfere with the display ofcontent.

Other configurations are possible, and FIGS. 2-5 are intended simply toillustrate the breadth of different techniques that may be used toindicate device identification designs. Note also that although each ofthe illustrated examples includes a single display surface surrounded bya case or bezel, future embodiments may omit the bezel, might havemultiple display surfaces, might have flexible display surfaces, andmight differ in other ways from the depicted examples. Furthermore, thedescribed techniques may be used with devices whose primary purpose maynot be for content or document viewing, such as personal computers,tablet devices, smartphones, personal media devices, and so forth.

FIG. 6 illustrates, in simplified form, an example of a user interface600 that may be implemented by the workspace controller 106 to performcontent location management among the content viewers 102. The userinterface 600 may comprise a pane or window 602 within which graphicalelements are displayed. In this example, multiple content items arerepresented on the left side of the pane 602 by respective content icons604. Each icon, as illustrated, may be accompanied by text indicatingthe name of the content item, in this case “Doc 1,” “Doc 2,” “Doc 3,”“Doc 4,” and “Doc 5.” Multiple content viewers are represented on theright side of the pane 602 by respective device icons 606. Each of theseicons may resemble the actual devices that they represent, and may haveor emphasize a different color as indicated in FIG. 6 by theaccompanying labels “Blue,” “Red,” “Green,” and “Yellow.” The color of aparticular device icon 606 corresponds to the device identificationcolor of a corresponding content viewer 102. Thus, directing anoperation to the “Blue” device icon 606 causes that operation to beperformed with respect to the content viewer 102 that is currentlyexhibiting the same (blue) device identification color.

FIG. 6 illustrates how a particular content item may be assigned andtransferred to a particular viewer. In this example, the user selectsthe content icon 604 labeled “Doc 4” and drags it toward the right,dropping it on the “red” device icon 606. The workspace controller 106responds to this operation by assigning “Doc 4” to the “red” viewerdevice 102, and the “red” viewer device then displays “Doc 4” on itsdisplay surface.

In some implementations, the selected content icon 604 may be shown inphantom (reference numeral 608) as it is being dragged and before it isdropped on its target device icon 606.

Note that although device icon colors are illustrated as textual labelsin FIG. 6, actual implementations may use icons that are appropriatelycolored to match their corresponding content viewers, reducing oreliminating the need for the textual labels.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of actions that might be performed toimplement the techniques described above. An action 702 comprisescoordinating a plurality of electronic viewer devices to exhibitrespectively unique device identification designs such as colors. Toaccomplish this, the viewer devices may communicate with each other orwith a central coordinator such as the workspace controller 106. Asdiscussed above, designs (including colors) may be exhibited by or onthe case or bezel of the devices, within the display areas of thedevices, or on other areas of the devices. In the described embodiments,coordinating 702 may comprise dynamically and electronically changingthe colors of the device identification regions.

An action 704 comprises presenting a user interface that identifies theindividual electronic viewer devices in terms of their respectivelyunique device identification colors. As described above, this maycomprise depicting devices by their colors on the user interface, sothat a user can select from among the available viewers based on thecolors they currently exhibit.

An action 706 comprises assigning and/or transmitting content items tothe electronic viewers in response to user interaction with thepresented user interface. An example of such a user interaction isillustrated in FIG. 6, in which an icon representing a content item isdragged to a colored icon representing a viewer device.

An action 708 comprises receiving and/or displaying the assigned contentitems on the display surfaces of the electronic viewer devices. Morespecifically, a content item assigned to a particular viewer device isdisplayed on that device.

FIG. 8 illustrates relevant components of an example electronic viewerdevice 800 that may be used in conjunction with the techniques describedabove. The viewer device 800 may include a processing unit composed ofone or more processors 802 and memory 804. Depending on theconfiguration of the viewer device 800, the memory 804 may comprisecomputer storage media and may include volatile and nonvolatile memory.Thus, the memory 804 may include, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM,EEPROM, flash memory, or other memory technology, or any other mediumwhich can be used to store media items or applications and data whichcan be accessed by the viewer device 800.

The memory 804 may be used to store any number of functional componentsand/or operational logic modules that are executable on the processor802, as well as data and content items that are displayed by the viewerdevice 800. Thus, the memory 804 may store an operating system 806 andcontent store 808.

A user interface module 810 may also be provided in the memory 804 andexecuted on the processor 802 to provide for user operation of theviewer device 800, including navigational tools and so forth.

A communication module 812 may be stored in the memory 804 and executedon the processor 802 to facilitate communications with other readerdevices and/or with a workspace controller if such a controller is beingused.

The memory 804 may also contain color coordination logic 814 that allowscoordination of device identification colors among multiple viewerdevices, so that each viewer device exhibits a different color. In someembodiments, each device may simply respond to a command issued by aworkspace controller to exhibit a specified color. In other embodiments,devices may participate in negotiating their colors.

The electronic reader 104 further includes a display 816 upon whichcontent items may be rendered. A communications interface 818 maysupport wired and/or wireless connection to various devices. In someimplementations, the communications interface 818 may comprise a networkinterface, allowing communications over networks such as cellularnetworks, radio, WiFi networks, short range networks (e.g., Bluetooth),IR, and so forth. The network interface 818 facilitates receivingcontent items as discussed herein.

The viewer device may further be equipped with various input/output(I/O) components 820. These may include touch-screen sensors, keys,keypads, buttons, and so forth, which may be used in conjunction withuser interface functions.

The viewer device 800 may have various additional components 822 tosupport its intended operation. For example, it may also includeadditional data storage devices (removable and/or non-removable) suchas, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. The additionaldata storage media may include volatile and nonvolatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storageof information, such as computer readable instructions, data structures,program modules, or other data.

FIG. 9 illustrates relevant components of an example workspacecontroller 900 that may be used in the environment described above. Theworkspace controller 900 may comprise a processing unit 902 composed oneof one or more processors, and memory 904. The memory 904 may comprisecomputer storage media and may include volatile and nonvolatile memory.Thus, the memory 904 may include, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM,EEPROM, flash memory, or other memory technology, or any other mediumwhich can be used to store applications and data.

The memory 904 may be used to store any number of functional componentsthat are executable on the processing unit 902. Thus, the memory 904 maystore an operating system 906 that performs basic computer functions andwith which other applications may interact to provide higher-levelfunctionality.

The workspace controller 900 may have a user interface module 908 and adesign coordination module 910 that interact to provide the userinterface functionality described above. In particular, the designcoordination module 910 may be configured to communicate with availablereader devices and to coordinate their adoption of different deviceidentification designs/colors. The user interface module 908 may thenimplement a graphical user interface such as shown in FIG. 6, allowing auser to select available reader devices based on their visuallyexhibited designs.

The workspace controller may also include a communications interface 912configured to communicate with the available reader devices. Thecommunications interface may use various different technologies,including networking technologies, to communicate with the readerdevices.

The workspace controller 900 will of course include other components 914to support its general functionality and operations.

Note that the various techniques described above are assumed in thegiven examples to be implemented in the general context ofcomputer-executable instructions or software, such as program modules,executed by one or more computers or other devices, such as the describeworkspace controller and viewer devices. Generally, program modulesinclude routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc.,and define operating logic for performing particular tasks or implementparticular abstract data types.

Other architectures may be used to implement the describedfunctionality, and are intended to be within the scope of thisdisclosure. Furthermore, although specific distributions ofresponsibilities are defined above for purposes of discussion, thevarious functions and responsibilities might be distributed and dividedin different ways, depending on particular circumstances.

Similarly, software may be stored and distributed in various ways andusing different means, and the particular software storage and executionconfigurations described above may be varied in many different ways.Thus, software implementing the techniques described above may bedistributed on various types of computer-readable media, not limited tothe forms of memory that are specifically described.

Furthermore, although the subject matter has been described in languagespecific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to beunderstood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather,the specific features and acts are disclosed as exemplary forms ofimplementing the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising: causinga first electronic device to display a device identification, the deviceidentification corresponding to the first electronic device; receiving,at a network-based computing device, first data from a second electronicdevice different from the first electronic device, the first datarepresenting the device identification; receiving, at the network-basedcomputing device, second data indicating a user selection of a contentitem from the second electronic device; and causing the content item tobe sent to the first electronic device based at least in part on thefirst data and the second data.
 2. The computer-implemented methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the device identification is representedby a visual pattern.
 3. The computer-implemented method according toclaim 2, wherein the visual pattern comprises an icon.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method according to claim 2, wherein the visualpattern comprises a multi-pixel pattern.
 5. The computer-implementedmethod according to claim 1, wherein the device identification comprisesa first device identification, further comprising: causing a thirdelectronic device different from the first electronic device and fromthe second electronic device to display a second device identificationcorresponding to the third electronic device, wherein the second deviceidentification is different from the first device identification and isdisplayed substantially concurrently with the display of the firstdevice identification.
 6. The computer-implemented method according toclaim 5, further comprising: receiving, at the network-based computingdevice, third data from a fourth electronic device different from thefirst electronic device, the second electronic device, and the thirdelectronic device, the third data representing the second deviceidentification; receiving, at the network-based computing device, fourthdata indicating a user selection of a second content item from thefourth electronic device; and causing the second content item to be sentto the third electronic device based at least in part on the third dataand the fourth data.
 7. The computer-implemented method according toclaim 1, wherein the device identification comprises a first deviceidentification, further comprising: causing a third electronic devicedifferent from the first electronic device and from the secondelectronic device to display a second device identification differentfrom the first device identification; receiving, at the network-basedcomputing device, third data from the second electronic device, thethird data representing the second device identification; receiving, atthe network based computing device, fourth data indicating a userselection of a second content item from the second electronic device;and causing the second content item to be sent to the third electronicdevice based at least in part on the third data and the fourth data. 8.An electronic device, comprising: at least one input component usablewith user interface functions of the electronic device; and one or moreprocessors configured with executable instructions to perform operationscomprising: determining a unique device identification displayed by atleast a portion of a second electronic device and that identifies thesecond electronic device, the second electronic device being differentfrom the electronic device; receiving, via the at least one inputcomponent, a selection of a data object; and sending data representingthe selection of the data object to at least one controller to causecontent associated with the data object to be sent to the secondelectronic device based at least in part on the unique deviceidentification, wherein the at least one controller is different fromthe electronic device and from the second electronic device.
 9. Theelectronic device according to claim 8, wherein the unique deviceidentification comprises a first unique device identification, theoperations further comprising: determining a second unique deviceidentification displayed by at least a portion of a third electronicdevice different from the at least one controller, the electronicdevice, and the second electronic device, wherein the second uniquedevice identification identifies the third electronic device.
 10. Theelectronic device according to claim 9, the operations furthercomprising: receiving, via the at least one input component, a secondselection of a second data object; and sending data representing thesecond selection of the second data object to the at least onecontroller to cause content associated with the second data object to besent to the third electronic device based at least in part on the secondunique device identification.
 11. The electronic device according toclaim 8, wherein the unique device identification is represented by avisual pattern.
 12. The electronic device according to claim 11, whereinthe visual pattern comprises an icon.
 13. The electronic deviceaccording to claim 8, wherein: the at least one input component comprisea display; the user interface is configured to be presented on thedisplay, the user interface including a representation of the dataobject; and receiving the selection of the data object comprisesreceiving a selection of the representation of the data object presentedin the user interface and on the display of the electronic device.
 14. Asystem comprising: one or more processors; and computer readable mediastoring computer-executable instructions that, when executed, configurethe one or more processors to perform acts comprising: causing a firstelectronic device to display a device identification, the deviceidentification corresponding to the first electronic device; receiving,from a second electronic device, first data representing the deviceidentification of the first electronic device; receiving, from thesecond electronic device, second data indicating a content item accessedby the second electronic device; and causing the content item to be sentto the first electronic device based at least in part on the first dataand the second data.
 15. The system according to claim 14, wherein thedevice identification is represented by a visual pattern.
 16. The systemaccording to claim 15, wherein the visual pattern comprises an icon. 17.The system according to claim 15, wherein the visual pattern comprises amulti-pixel pattern.
 18. The system according to claim 14, wherein thedevice identification comprises a first identification, the instructionsfurther configure the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:sending, to a third electronic device different from the firstelectronic device and the second electronic device, data representing asecond device identification of the third electronic device to bedisplayed.
 19. The system according to claim 18, wherein the deviceidentification comprises a first identification, the content itemcomprises a first content item, and the instructions further configurethe one or more processors to perform acts comprising: receiving, from afourth electronic device different from the first electronic device, thesecond electronic device, and the third electronic device, third datarepresenting the second device identification; receiving, from thefourth electronic device, fourth data indicating a second content itemaccessed by the fourth electronic device; and sending, to the thirdelectronic device and based at least in part on the third data and thefourth data, the second content item to be displayed.
 20. The systemaccording to claim 14, wherein the device identification comprises afirst identification, the instructions further configure the one or moreprocessors to perform acts comprising: sending, to a third electronicdevice different from the first electronic device and the secondelectronic device, data representing a second device identification ofthe third electronic device to be displayed; receiving, from a fourthelectronic device different from the first electronic device, the secondelectronic device, and the third electronic device, third datarepresenting the second device identification; receiving, from thefourth electronic device, fourth data indicating a second content itemaccessed by the fourth electronic device; and sending, to the thirdelectronic device and based at least in part on the third data and thefourth data, the second content item to be displayed.